Edge of Darkness

The second coming of Mel Gibson is a Boston cop nearing retirement made all giddy by the visitation of his estranged daughter. After making nice for a few moments, she’s blown out of her motorcycle boots by some masked gunman who everyone initially assumes was gunning for her old man—being a cop and all that, y’know? But of course there’s a bigger conspiracy at work and Gibson gets down with being the mad ol’ self on which he built his reputation. Onscreen and off. Seeing that Gibson likes his conspiracy theories, it’ll be no surprise that the corruption stinks all the way to the top, although how far to the top is mostly implied through a trophy photo of the main bad guy laughing it up with Dick Cheney. Director Martin “Casino Royale” Campbell puts his setting on slow burn and allows the story to set the pace, not the pyrotechnics. This is the kind of thing that Gibson does best, and this is some of the best that he’s delivered in years. It’s nice to have him back. Feather River Cinemas, Paradise Cinema 7 and Tinseltown. Rated R